While celebrating a 150-year history, St. Lawrence Martyr in Maryland is also celebrating a spiritual revival the congregation has experienced in the most recent decade. New leadership has added a Life Teen youth ministry, adult faith programs and International Nights to revitalize the ministry.
That growth spurred a capital campaign in 2014 to build a new parish complex. When facility design was in the planning stages, Michael Klass of Baltimore-based Klassic Sound was referred to provide a solution for the sanctuary sound. Klassic Sound & Stage provides live sound reinforcement and production, as well as installations, throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. On June 3rd of this year, Baltimore Archibishop William Lori presided over a Dedication Mass blessing the new facility.
“It wasn’t an easy room to work with,” notes Klass. “It was basically a concrete room with the only sound absorption being the carpeting on the floor. And with high vertical ceilings, we were dealing with a highly reverberant environment.”
As a Catholic church and parish center, the sanctuary serves a multi-functional purpose from services to musical performances. Parish principles worked with Klass’ company, known in the region for event production and sound reinforcement capabilities.
Considering a solution, Klass turned his attention to the RCF VSA vertical steerable arrays. “The church wanted something sleek and low profile,” Klass comments, “And I needed to provide a solution with the steering capability to control room reverberations, while also providing the horsepower for the performance needs of the church.” Klass recommended the RCF VSA2050, coupled with a Turbosound subwoofer for some low frequency enhancement.
Working with the RCF VSA User Control, “Programming was very simple,” says Klass, “And we heard the steering ‘pop’ into place very quickly.” He concludes, “The steering did just what I expected it to do, and what I told the church it would do.”
